Presentation from the Online Retailer Conference, August 2013, Melbourne Topic: Innovation, Organisational Design and Mobile

1. brandsExclusive: Mobile Case Study
Daniel Jarosch, @danomyte

2. About brandsExclusive
> Daniel Jarosch, Co-founder
> Leading Australian Flash Sales Site
> Sells Fashion and Lifestyle
Products at Discount of
up to 75% off RRP
> Founded 2008
> 2.5m registered members
> 79% repeat customers
> +800 brand suppliers
> +60.000 photos / month
> Recent Awards:
– Winner BRW Fast Starter, 2013
– Winner Deloitte Tech Fast 50, 2012
2

3. brandsExclusive mobile
• Started as a web business
• First Full IOS App 2009
• Today
– 300k installations
– 90k active in the last 30 days
– Mobile 40-50% (weekends) of
all sales
– IOS 30-38% of all sales
– 2012 ORIA Award: Best
mobile Commerce Solution
3

4. So what do you tell a diverse audience of….
4
Retailers
Startup
Students
Agencies
Developers
IT Dept.Consultants
Bloggers
Logistics Providers
Analysts
eCommerce Experts
Monsters
Journos
Models
GM’s

5. First, I wanted to start with Lessons Learned…
1: Transferring ownership of an iPhone app on the app store is a
nightmare.
2: First attempted Appcelerator, changed to native Xcode quickly.
3: Started with a clean slate.
4: Developed in isolation from our website.
5: Having constraints on mobile is a good thing, forces focus.
6: Introduced features first on mobile, then on web.
7. Focus on customer …..
…..
………..
………..…..
5

6. Anecdotal Lessons Learned are entertaining
but have limited value to the audience….
6
• Hindsight
is
wonderful
• Heard
too
many
9mes
• Very
Granular
• Too
many
• Never
make
the
same
mistake
twice?
Well
actually
I
do
…

7. What I am going to talk about, today
• Introduction
• Key Success Factor: Org
Design
• bEx Case Examples:
– be:Agile
– bEx Labs
– R&D Example: “Swipey
Experiement”

8. Org Design for Mobile Innovation

9. Innovation performance is driven by
organisational design
• Mobile = Innovation
• Innovation not just a
process
• To have a successful mobile
strategy, you have to have a
successful approach to
innovation
• The right organisational
design (Leadership, People,
Culture, KPIs, Process etc )
key to mobile success
9

10. Lets start with a framework …..
10
• Context:
Vola9le,
Uncertain,
Complex,
Ambiguous
(VUCA)
• Primary
purpose
is
to
experiment
and
generate
new
possibili5es.
R&D
• Uncertainty
about
arrival
9mes,
customer
needs
and
unpredictable
interrup9ons
make
complex
opera9ons
challenging.
• Focused
on
Problem
solving
Complex
Opera9ons
• No
room
for
uncertainty.
• Focused
on
improvement
and
making
exis5ng
process
efficient
Rou9ne
Opera9ons
This
This
is
a
company

11. Examples of the functions
11
• Context:
Vola9le,
Uncertain,
Complex,
Ambiguous
(VUCA)
• Primary
purpose
is
to
experiment
and
generate
new
possibili5es.
R&D
• Uncertainty
about
arrival
9mes,
customer
needs
and
unpredictable
interrup9ons
make
complex
opera9ons
challenging.
• Focused
on
Problem
solving
Complex
Opera9ons
• No
room
for
uncertainty.
• Focused
on
improvement
and
making
exis5ng
process
efficient
Rou9ne
Opera9ons
Examples
• Retailer:
Develop
new
store
format,
develop
mobile
channels
• Shopping
Club:
Mobile,
Social,
Targe9ng,
bEx
labs
• Automo9ve
Company:
Design
of
future
cars
• Retailer:
Merchandising
• Shopping
Club:
Sourcing
• Automo9ve
Company:
Supply
Chain
Management
• Retailer:
Customer
Service
Hotline,
Accounts
Payable
• Shopping
Club:
Daily
Email
Send,
Photography
• Automo9ve
Company:
Assembly
Plant

12. Each of the functions has a different
purpose and principles
12
• Context:
Vola9le,
Uncertain,
Complex,
Ambiguous
(VUCA)
• Primary
purpose
is
to
experiment
and
generate
new
possibili5es.
R&D
• Uncertainty
about
arrival
9mes,
customer
needs
and
unpredictable
interrup9ons
make
complex
opera9ons
challenging.
• Focused
on
Problem
solving
Complex
Opera9ons
• No
room
for
uncertainty.
• Focused
on
improvement
and
making
exis5ng
process
efficient
Rou9ne
Opera9ons
Source:
Teaming,
Amy
C.
Edmondson,
Harvard
Business
School

13. Failure
Type
Causes
Term
Example
Intelligent
Uncertainty
Unsuccess-­‐
ful
trial
Itera9ve
Design
Complex
Complexity,
variability
and
novel
interac9ons
System
break
down
Power
Outage
in
Warehouse
Preventable
Behavior,
Skill
and
a^en9on
deficits
Process
devia9on
Manager
not
showing
up
for
work.
Example: Fail Fast is only desired in R&D
13
Source:
Teaming,
Amy
C.
Edmondson,
Harvard
Business
School
R&D
Complex
Opera9ons
Rou9ne
Opera9ons

14. brandsExclusive Journey:
From Startup to Company.
14
R&D
Complex
Opera9ons
Rou9ne
Opera9ons
Startup
…..
….
2013
2009
Scale
Efficiency
Company
Crea5on
of
bEx
Labs
Rollout
of
be:Agile

15. brandsExclusive Journey. From Startup to
Company.
15
R&D
Complex
Opera9ons
Rou9ne
Opera9ons
Startup
…..
….
2013
2009
Scale
Efficiency
Company
Crea5on
of
bEx
Labs
Rollout
of
be:Agile

16. Mobile Context and Challenges
• We know, mobile is going to
be huge, change consumer
behavior, create
opportunities etc etc etc …..
• Even Customers don’t yet
know what the they want
when.
• Limited resources for
innovation
• Competitors (direct and
indirect) will invest into
mobile
16
VUCA
• Vola9lity,
• Uncertainty,
• Complexity,
• Ambiguity

17. In VUCA, the Traditional Waterfall Approach
does not work for mobile innovation
17

18. be:Agile: brandsExclusive’s methodology
of lean startup and agile.
18
Methodology
to
conduct
lots
of
test
rapidly,
learn
and
implement
across
the
business.

19. • Get out of the building / Speak
to the customers
• Sandboxes for Employees
• Assumption + Data vs Opinion
• Action metrics not vanity metrics
19
• Teams have scarce but
adequate resources
• Teams have enough
independence
Teams
• The leader defines the vision,
• Provides the tools,
• Gets out of the way
Leadership
Learning
be:Agile Culture, Components and Principles
• Lean Canvas
• Validation Boards
• Minimum Viable Products
• A/B testing
Tools

20. brandsExclusive Journey. From Startup to
Company.
20
R&D
Complex
Opera9ons
Rou9ne
Opera9ons
Startup
…..
….
2013
2009
Scale
Efficiency
Company
Crea5on
of
bEx
Labs
Rollout
of
be:Agile

21. Created bExlabs to separate day2day
ops and institutionalise innovation
21
bEx
Labs

22. “Swipey
Experiment”:
Discovery mobile app
from bEx labs
• Fashion and lifestyle recommendation engine
that allows users to purchase products
• For Users:
– A new way to discover & experience products.
– A rich product feed continually tailored to you.
– Personalisation on a whole new level.
• For Suppliers:
– A new, mobile-focused sales channel for brands.
– Fast integration into your existing eCommerce
site.
– Orders come straight through to you for
fulfillment.
– Real-time analytics on your products
performance.
Swipey
……

23. bexLabs: „Swipey Experiment“
1. Concept for the Swipey
Experiment was to rethink
product discovery.
2. Validate via a series of in-person
interviews.
3. Prototype solutions once the
problem is clearly understood.
4. Deliver an MVP and work
towards the release version.
5. Pilot with trial suppliers and
closed user group
Swipey
Like
to
learn
more
or
par9cipate
in
the
trial
please
contact:
daniel@bex.com.au

24. 24
Q&A

25. Thank You!